


Ocean Deep Connections

by Coloredleaves



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family Dynamics, Found Family, Inien and Colvin are cousins, Magic, Multi, Pirates, its a pirate au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 00:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17213588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coloredleaves/pseuds/Coloredleaves
Summary: Aesling is tired of being the protector of Meathe so one day she cuts loose the ropes of a boat and sets sail into the sea. While on her journey she meets a man that is just a bit off from the rest and they have an adventure as they make their way to a better future.





	Ocean Deep Connections

**Author's Note:**

> This took me forever to write but it was worth it, tell me what you think of it!

The quiet morning on the ancient island of Meathe did nothing to give way to the scheming of a spirited white-haired girl. The wind rustled the branches of the trees and whipped her coils of hair around her face like a small blizzard, at least what she assumed what a blizzard would look like since she’s never seen snow before in her life. Shaking the lingering thought of what icy mountains might look like and how the snowflakes would react to her presence. She looked past the brush of the healthy green forest as she silently crept through, the sun slowly raised above the horizon, with a grin she spotted the boat she left tied loosely to a mossy rock. This was a part of the island that no one ever came to, they said the tide was too high and the currents too harsh to even fish out there. She simply called them cowards with a scoff. The emptiness of the area made it easy for her to hide whatever she wanted from the prying eyes of the other islanders.

The quiet of the world around her gave her a chance to look down at herself and take it all in. She was wearing loose pants that were colored like the murky green parts of the water where all the fish loved to hide. They were filled with patches and had pockets that reached her mid-thigh and stayed tucked into her dusty brown boots. The stark white of her hair contrasted her shirt, she couldn't tell if it was brown or black but it was deep and rich in color nonetheless. Around her waist sat a sword and a dagger, her only friends from the day she was born. With one final push through the tangles of roots and plant she finally made her way out of the forest just as the roosters started to crow to the morning sun.

She cursed under her breath, that gave her about twenty minutes to get the fuck off this island before she anyone noticed she was missing. She silently checked the satchel hanging at her side as she walked across the near white sand of the beach and rummaged through it to make sure she had everything she needed for the trip. Food, water, a map, and everything else had already been boarded onto the ship as needed. She bounded towards the ship with vigor, once on the deck, she took one final look at the island just as she cut the rope keeping her tied to it. The wind was strong and the day was young and Aesling of Meathe was set on a journey to become someone new. As she turned away from the island she could almost hear the onset panic of the entire island as they soon figured out their guardian was no longer with them.

 

* * *

 

After setting sail in the bright blue ocean ahead of her, Aesling soon came to realize that being on a boat was fucking boring! There were no people to talk to, the waves so far had been calm and quite peaceful and she was getting tired of slashing at the stray birds that landed on the edge of the wooden vessel with her sword. There was nothing and no one and she was getting fed up with it all. The stories were way cooler than the actual experience.

She sighed as she swiped at another bird, it flew off making some shrill sound that hurt her ears and made her want to hit it again with the blunt side of the blade. She watched as it fluttered above her for a second before rolling her eyes and turning away to go grab an apple, with the twist of her dagger, she sliced against the bitter skin of the fruit. She liked peeling fruit, gave her something to do idly with her hands instead of having to think about the distant dread settling in her stomach and twisting her guts into knots.

With one more swipe of her dagger against the fruit, it was free of skin, she peered down at the pale yellow flesh of the fruit, how it glistened ever so slightly in the sunlight. She took a bite. No time to toil over thoughts of this and that, she had some sailing to do! She took another large bite as she crossed the length of the boat to where the sail sat. All in order, just how she liked it.

She sheathed the blade and pulled out the map, if she was reading was reading this the right way then she should be heading in the correct direction. She looked across the sea and held up her fingers adjacent to the sail, she dropped her hand and pulled open the sail as the breeze picked up. She tied back the rope with practiced ease before choosing to laze back against the railing next to the tiller, she watched the waves ripple around her as fish and whatever other creatures lived beneath the waters swam just below the surface. She reached out with one hand letting it graze against scales. Actually, that was a lot of scales. That was way too many to be one fish. Oh shit.

She jumped up just as a jaw popped up from the water, its teeth clamped around nothing and the gentle waves became more aggressive. Something bumped up against the bottom of the boat threatening to tip it over. Aesling pulled out her sword and backed up into the middle of the boat by the sail. She raised it in front of herself and waited not a word coming from her.

Seconds ticked up in a tense silence.

Not a single thing moved, nothing made a sound. The beat of her heart pounded in her ears like a mantra.

As she was about to lower the blade a large beast jumped from the waves behind her. She whipped around and watched as it crested over the boat almost capturing her in its rows of razor-sharp fangs. Fuck this thing was fast. Before she could catch her bearings it jumped out of the water again, she pulled her sword up, she felt it catch onto something and swung it with all her force to the side. The monster's trajectory was thrown off and it landed on its side into the water. She watched a small trail of blood move throughout the water and she grinned.

This time she was prepared for the attack, she ducked down as it jumped out of the waves and thrust her sword forward as she straightened back up to full height. With the leftover momentum from the creature, she pushed her weapon deeper into it and sliced down the middle. She held strong onto the hilt as blood poured onto her fingers and body. And then silence.  
She barely had time to turn and watch the two halves of this beast hit the water with a sickening squelch. Gross.

She dipped her sword in the water that wasn't contaminated with the spilled guts of the monster. She sheathed the sword once it was free of gunk and moved to find some kind of container she could use to clean herself. She searched for a few minutes as the blood dried in her hair and her boat steadily inched away from the body. She found a bucket and dipped it into the ocean, she upended it over her head and felt the residue of blood wash off of her. She still smelled like shit but at least she was clean of the evidence.

 

* * *

 

Life on the sea had gone the same as that day on, Aesling would get bored, get attacked by some random monster, kill it, rinse and repeat. It was boring and she was this close to drinking the sea water. She kicked at the side of the ship halfheartedly until her foot was numb.

That's when she heard the sound of low groans, she looked up and searched for the sound as her hand found the hilt of her sword on her hip. The groaning sounded off again and she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Her eyes flitted over to the side and she turned as she whipped her sword out. She was about to slash at whatever it was but she caught herself as she got a good look at what was coming after her. Was that....a person? Holy shit that was a guy! She dropped her sword and rushed over, he was laid across a crate and he looked fucking dead but he was making noise earlier so he couldn't be. She reached into the water and grabbed him, she placed him onto the deck and looked him over. He was breathing so that was a good sign.

She looked away from the man and went to grab the crate out of the water, she didn't know what was in it but it could come in handy. Once the crate was pushed into a corner and out of the way, Aesling went back to the man's side. Still breathing. She grasped the bucket and filled it with water and tossed its contents onto the man's face. To her surprise, he sat up stock straight and stared forward with unblinking eyes. She reached out and poked his shoulder hoping this wasn't some undead monster about to attack her.

The man looked up at her and smiled wide as he jumped up onto his feet. "Hello there! The name's Athos Colvin Jun but you can just call me Colvin, what's yours? Is this your ship? It's pretty nice, a little small but nice! So, you the only one on here?"

Aesling's head spun from all the information thrown at her. She floundered as she tried to respond to the man- Colvin! "My name's Aesling, um, yeah this is my ship and I'm the only one on it."

He nodded brushed himself off, he rubbed his chin as he looked for something. He perked up when he spotted the crate Aesling pulled out of the water, he rushed over to it and pried off the top with his bare hands. He rummaged through it before pulling out a slightly warped wooden staff with weird symbols etched all over the wood, he hugged it to his chest. "Message!" He tucked it into his belt and turned back to Aesling. "Thank you so much for saving my stuff!"

She nodded. "No problem." What the hell was going on?

"So where are you headed to Aesling?"

"Oh!" Finally, something she knew how to answer. She pulled out her map and unraveled it, Colvin looked over her shoulder at the map and stared at the circled island on the paper. "You're heading to the Free Isles?" She tipped her chin up with a smile and rolled the map back up.

He returned the smile and slid back he looked out toward the ocean. "So you gonna be competing?"

"Competing? Competing in what?"

He gasped and rushed forward seizing her by the shoulders. "You don't know!?" She let out a shout as she stumbled back from his hold. "Know what?"

"The Queen's tournament! Warriors from everywhere are going to be there and the winner gets to be the Queen's royal guard!" He ran back to the crate and pulled out a flyer, he handed it to Aesling with a huff.

She stared at the page, looking over the words and intricate designs for the border before she looked up at her new companion. "I can't read."

Colvin pouted as she handed him back the poster. "Well, you just have to fight a bunch of dudes so you can win." He folded the flyer back up and tossed it back into the crate. "So are you going to compete?"

This was her chance. Her chance to be someone new. Her fingers tensed into a fist as excitement surged through her veins. "Hell yeah!"

"That's the spirit but you're gonna need some training if you want to win."

 

* * *

 

For the next few days, Aesling got acquainted with her new companion and coach. Apparently, he could do magic and whatnot but he refused to show her, also this guy was insanely strong. Like it was unbelievable how fucking strong this guy was.

She looked up from her map as she heard a bird squawk, there was a Colvin messing with the avian creature. He flicked at the bird sending strong gusts its way and causing it to veer off course, the man snickered behind his free hand before Aesling came over and slapped his hand down. "Leave the thing alone, it's probably gonna give you some kind of bird disease or something."

"Oh come on Ashe, I wasn't even touching it!" He grimaced and watched the bird flap away, once it was out of sight he leaned back and dipped his hands into the water. Ashe, he had taken to calling her that about 3 hours into their journey together. Apparently saying Aesling was too much for him.

"It doesn't matter you don't know what it has." She wacked his knee with the map as he pulled his hands out of the water and flicked it at her. "Well, it doesn't have a stick up its ass unlike you." He pulled his other hand out of the water and flicked it at her again. How was this man older than her?

She glared at him as he stuck his tongue out at her and for the first time, she actually took in his appearance. His hair was a chestnut brown that was seemed to defy gravity with its mass and tangles. He had on dusty red pants that were so loose on him it was a miracle they weren't falling off of his hips. He had a purple sleeveless shawl that waved around his waist, he didn't have a shirt, how did he not get cold? Maybe it was that bandana over his one eye and hung around his neck that kept him warm? Whatever she didn't care.

Apparently, he had gotten bored of the glaring battle between the two of them and kicked himself up from his sitting position. "Ugh, fine! Let's just train."

"Finally." She huffed exasperatedly. "So what are we doing this time?"

Colvin tapped his chin as he tilted his head left and right. He clapped his hands together with a shout. "Hand to hand! You're not always going to be fighting with a weapon so you gotta get good with your hands."

Aesling nodded and pulled her sword and dagger off her hip, she tossed them into a corner and pulled her hands into a fist.

"Your stance sucks." He pulled his staff from around his hip and began to knock her legs apart with a scowl.

"Fuck you."

"Yeah, yeah, get over it." He continued to knock her limbs into an appropriate form. "Keep your body low, and your knees to be as far apart as your shoulders." He walked around her and smirked with satisfaction. "Also your thumb is tucked inside of your fist."

"Thanks, I guess." She whirled around and went to punch him in the throat. He clutched her fist and bent his body forward, tossing her onto the deck with a slam.

She huffed and got back up, she got back into her stance and went to punch him again. Colvin slid away from her fist, he dipped under her arm and knocked it up with a gentle punch, he went for her waist and shoved his palm to her sternum but stopped before he hit her. "And then I would have broken your windpipe and you'd choke to death." He chuckled and backed away.

"Are you just going to punch me or are you going to actually train me?" She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Aww, but I was having fun." He fluttered his eyelashes and pouted. She pinched his nose and he flustered as he pulled away. "Meanie." He pouted, pulled away and reluctantly got into a fighting stance.

"Much better." Aesling got into her stance.

 

* * *

 

So, Aesling got her ass beat for hours but she's pretty sure Colvin was some kind of extra powerful freak of nature. Getting a punch on him at all felt like she was besting some kind of deity that most definitely had it out for her. If she could get a hit on Colvin then she could beat anyone at that stupid tournament.

"You wanna stop?" Colvin offered a hand to the sprawled out girl.

"Please." She allowed herself to be pulled up from the floor and pat Colvin's shoulder with a sigh. "You're way too much to handle."

He shrugged and slung his arm around her shoulder and began a walk to the bow of the ship. "We're just a couple of days away from the Free Isles, you ready, Ashe?" She looked out to the shining waters and took a deep breath of the salty air. Looking out to the water with Colvin by her side made her realize how far she's come from the girl she was before she left Meathe. She let out a lighthearted sigh and glanced over at him with a smile. "More than I've ever been in my life."

Colvin was left stunned, he's known Ashe for at least two weeks now but he's never seen her smile like this. He blinked and smiled back. He gets it now. He met Aesling when he first got on this boat but right now he was witnessing Ashe and he thinks he's really going to like her.

 

* * *

 

During one of the last nights on the sea, Aesling looked up from her cot and stared at Colvin's sleeping form. She blinked and then he was staring back at her, she jumped slightly in surprise but rolled her eyes in fond annoyance when he started to chuckle at her reaction.

Once he was done laughing he finally broke the verbal silence. "Sooo, why are you awake?"

She shrugged. "Can't sleep." He nodded and looked up at the sky, he closed his eyes for a second before letting out a loud sigh. "Wanna see something cool?" He sat up and pulled his staff off of his waist.

"Oh, you're finally going to show me that magic of yours?" She sat up as well and placed her hands behind her to hold her up.

He nodded mumbled a few incantations under his breath before waving his staff in, what she assumed to be, the formation of the symbols of the spell. He pointed his staff a few paces in front of him and with a flash of light a large being appeared. As she looked into the form before her, Aesling could see stars and planets float around as casually as fishes in a pond. She blinked a couple of times as it drifted to her, it bent down and offered the girl a smile before flashing away.

"What was that?" She rubbed her eyes, god that thing was bright.

"Message." He sounded proud, like someone that just saw their kid win a gold medal or maybe even a participation trophy.

"What's it do?" Colvin opened his mouth. "I get what it does but it didn't give me a fucking message." Colvin shut his mouth and replaced it with a smile that she had seen not even a minute ago. "Don't be so sure of that, Ashe."

Aesling huffed with amusement and rolled her eyes. She laid back down and tucked her arms behind her head and closed her eyes.

When morning came there was a plate of cut fruit beside her and Colvin flipping one of Aesling's swords in his palm with a smirk. "Ready to lose again, Ashe?"

She stood up and seized up her dagger. "Oh, you're fucking on!"

 

* * *

 

It was the brightest morning Aesling had seen in her life, the sun beamed and bounced off the water. The waves danced joyfully and Colvin was sitting on top of the sail, he was tapping out a simple tune on his thighs as he sang to himself.

She sat up against the side of the boat and watched him idly. A pause in his singing and she finally opened her mouth. "What were you signing?"

He really wasn't expecting that because he jumped up and nose-dived onto the deck, he cursed under his breath and whined as he rubbed at his nose. "Aaaaaaaaashe, what the hell?" He fixed her with a glare and she let out a loud laugh, he looked ridiculous with the center of his face red and a childish scowl on his face. "I could have died!" She laughed even louder, a tear tracked down her cheek before she could get herself to breathe properly. "You punched the blade of my sword head on and bent it."

"I'll punch you and bend you!" He huffed and got up from the floor. He held his hand out to Aesling and she stood with his assistance. She patted his shoulder as she moved past him and grinned, they were slowly approaching their destination. Only a few more hours and her real journey was going to begin.

Colvin and Aesling reached out to touch the sides of the monstrosity of ships sitting at the docks. Aesling stepped off of their boat and tied it to the dock as Colvin collected all of their things. He passed her scabbards over to her and shuffled the boxes onto his shoulders and held loosely onto them.

"So where to first?" She buckled her scabbards to her hips.

"We're gonna go to the Punch Dome."

"The Punch Dome?"

"Yeah it's my restaurant, my cousin has been taking care of it while I was gone."

Aesling paused and stopped in her tracks. Colvin turned to look at her with a baffled look. "Ashe?"

"YOU HAVE A RESTAURANT? YOU HAVE A FUCKING COUSIN?" She rushed to meet up with him, she had a perplexed look on her face.

"Sure do." He chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She reached around him and wrapped her arm around his waist and jabbed her thumb into his hip. He giggled and wrapped his own arm around his shoulder. They walked down the stone walkways of the city as Colvin pointed out landmarks and places he liked to hang out at. He stopped in front of a small building with two different doors. Aesling slipped underneath from his arm and pulled at the metal door. She grunted loudly and pulled at it again with another loud grunt. "Fuck! How heavy is this door?"

Colvin shrugged and brushed her away as he opened the door for her. "10 tons." He smirked and held the door open for her, she flicked his nose and went to open the other door. She grumbled at his roar of laughter and turned to flip him off, that only made him laugh louder.

He dumped the crates and barrels onto the floor beside the door and dropped himself into one of the chairs. He leaned back and propped his feet onto the table. "There's a room through that door over there you can take a nap in there until my cousin gets here." Aesling nodded and moved over to the room, she plopped down onto the bed and shut her eyes.

 

* * *

 

"Ashe! Ashe! Wake up!" A banging on the door startled Aesling out of her slumber, she fell off the bed and hit the floor with a loud thunk. She rubbed at her face and checked if her nose was bleeding, it felt like it snapped. She stood up and murmured to herself as she went over to the door. "What the fuck do you want?" She stared up at her friend and pulled her hand away from her face.

"Inien is here, come and meet her." He took her wrist and pulled her out of the room. She followed behind him lazily, she blinked tiredly and scratched at the back of her head. He stopped in front of the bar sitting in the back and leaned over the edge, he let go of her and reached down with both hands. "Inien, it's only been a minute how are you asleep already?" He pulled up a girl with long, brown, messy hair who put up a peace sign as she blinked her eyes open. Her words were slurred as she spoke. "Just resting my eyes bitch." He shook his head and placed her down on the floor.

Aesling looked down at her and Inien looked back up with her before reaching up and pulling at her cheek. "Yo, Colvin, this is the girl you were on that boat with?" She let go of her face and leaned over the bar to grab a hat, she tucked it over her head and leaned against it. He nodded and fixed the position of her hat absentmindedly, his hands fell to her hair and he brushed out some of the knots on the back of her head. "Yep, this is Ashe. She's gonna be competing in the tournament tomorrow."

"Yeah I know, you've told me that before." She snapped her fingers and a bottle of whiskey and a cup plopped into her hands. She set the cups out and poured two glasses. "Hey Ashe, you drink?" She motioned to the third empty glass on the counter. "Oh hell yeah." Aesling reached out and took the bottle from her, she knocked back the drink and let out a satisfied sigh as she banged the bottle onto the bar.

"Holy shit, did you just drink that whole thing?" Inien grabbed her own glass, she pulled herself on one of the stools.

"Oh yeah, she loves alcohol!" Colvin grabbed his own glass and passed it over to Aesling, she gave quick thanks before finishing off the whiskey. She handed it back to her friend and moved behind the counter to clean it off with a quiet hum.

Aesling took a look at Inien and looked down at her clothes. Aside from her hat, she had on a pale blue button up shirt that was undone to the fifth button where her shirt was tucked into high-waisted black pants with a staff similar to Colvin's tucked into one of her belt loops. She had on battered dark grey boots, the laces were tucked into the boot and the soles looked as if they were about to come off. She had a bandana similar to Colvin's stuck in her back pocket.

Inien sipped at her glass and hummed to herself, she pulled the cup away from her lips and tapped her chin. "You any good at fighting? Colvin told me he was training you but you gotta be pretty good if you're gonna win that tournament." She placed her drink down and fixed Aesling with an apprehensive look. Aesling reached over and grabbed her cup, she took a heavy gulp from it and put it back in its place. "Don't worry about it, I got this."

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter is gonna be the tournament and the end of the story. Comment some characters Ashe can fight in the next chap if you have any suggestions


End file.
